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Plant-Based Fall Meal Plan, Part 2

Here comes Part 2 of our Plant-Based Fall Meal Plan, complete with cozy dinner and dessert recipes for the week. There are stellar homemade veggie burgers, a nourishing stew, and beautifully simple roasted plums for dessert. To see the breakfast and lunch recipes, as well as the grocery shopping list for the entire meal plan, head to Part 1.
We hope you’ll find this entire thing useful, and we’d love to hear any feedback you have, as always :)

*all recipes are vegan and gluten-free and will make enough for a workweek (5 days), for 2-3 people

Day by Day Prep List

Monday Night:

Make the Veggie Burgers to have for dinner on Monday, Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday nights. This will be fairly quick, since you’ve already cooked the squash, rice, kale and lentils that are called for in the recipe during prep day. Roast the plums for dessert on Monday or Tuesday night, it’s quick and you will have enough for dessert for the rest of the week.

Make the Brown Rice, Lentil, Kale and Squash Veggie Burgers.

Make the Rosemary-Roasted Plums with Cardamom Sprinkle.

Wednesday/Thursday night:

Once you’ve finished eating the Veggie Burgers, prepare the Brussels Sprouts Stew for dinner starting Wednesday or Thursday night and until the end of the week.

Make the Brussels Sprout Tomato Stew.

Recipes

1.

These veggie burgers utilize the lentils, brown rice, squash, and kale that you already cooked during prep day. They are nourishing, satisfying, and cooked in the oven, which means that you won’t have to spend any time frying them on the pan. The flavors are earthy and warming, and the burgers develop really nice, crispy edges as they bake. Enjoy them for dinner with any fixings of choice, on burger buns, inside lettuce wraps, or even alongside a green salad. Make sure to try them with the Lentil and Squash Hummus from Part 1 as well.

Warm the coconut oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the onion, red pepper flakes and herbs, if using, and sauté for 7 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, then add the kale, salt and pepper, and stir around for another minute. Add the tomato paste and toss to mix well. Remove the pan from heat.

Transfer the pumpkin seeds to a food processor and pulse into small pieces. Add the rice, lentils, squash, vinegar, and the sautéed onion and kale mixture to the food processor. Pulse until well-mixed and combined into a chunky mixture. Taste for salt, add more if needed.

Prepare a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Use a ½ cup measurement to form burger patties and finish shaping each patty with your hands. Arrange the patties on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until the burgers look nicely toasted.

Serve on burger buns, lettuce wraps, or alongside salad with any burger fixings of choice. Store in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. These burgers also freeze very well.

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2.

A pot of good stew is such a great solution to the weekday dinner problem, especially during the colder months. It doesn’t take too long to make and lasts a while in the fridge, only getting better with time. This one is made with so many star ingredients of warming fall fare: mushrooms, carrots, garlic and onion, as well as jarred tomatoes, brussels sprouts and lentils. There’s smoked paprika, too, which ensures a bit of piquancy and depth of flavor. Serve this stew with crusty sourdough bread or over any brown rice, left over from the veggie burgers.

Warm the coconut oil in a medium saucepan. Add the cumin and sauté for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the onion and salt and sauté for 5 minutes, until translucent.

Add the mushrooms and black pepper and cook for about 8 minutes, until all the liquid that's released by the mushrooms evaporates. Add the garlic, jalapeno, carrots, Brussels sprouts and paprika, and stir to coat for about 2 minutes.

Add enough of the reserved kale cooking liquid (from part 1), veggie broth, or purified water to achieve a thick stew consistency (keep in mind that you'll also be adding crushed tomatoes). Add the bay leaves at this point too, if using. Bring to a simmer. Cook, partially covered, for 10 minutes.

Add the cooked lentils and crushed tomatoes, bring everything back to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves, if using. Add the spinach at the end, and stir it in until wilted. Taste for salt and pepper, adjust if needed. Serve over rice or with crusty sourdough bread.

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3.

Roasting up a sizable batch of fruit is a great way to ensure that you’ll have beautiful, healthy dessert for the week. Add a little dollop of ice cream or yogurt (have you tried this coconut one?!), and you’re in business. These plums are roasted with coconut sugar, which brings out their sweetness, and rosemary, which contributes its piney, earthy notes. Besides ice cream/yogurt, I love serving the plums with a sprinkling of toasted pumpkin seeds, cardamom and cacao nibs. Another idea: try topping the millet porridge from Part 1 with some of the roasted plums for one of your breakfasts. If you can’t find plums, try a similar roasting technique with apples or pears (and include cinnamon in your sprinkle).